


A Promise Kept

by Jairephix



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Mentions of other IPRE members, Rating for Taako's mouth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2018-12-25 09:53:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 5,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12033465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jairephix/pseuds/Jairephix
Summary: They had promised.For Julia.They just had one more person to help them out.---Tags may be added if chapters get added.





	1. A New Quest

**Author's Note:**

> This is 1000% inspired by http://busket.tumblr.com/post/164745748113/more-this-is-how-i-hope-the-hunt-for-governor

Raven’s Roost was...hard. The tall spires weren’t stable enough these days, and the rubble nearby was still hard to see. It was so easy to slip back into old memories, but Magnus’ work kept him from being too alone to let depression and grief waft over him.

It still tore deep down, at the core of him. He knew someone was responsible for Julia’s death, for Steven’s, for the people he had come to love and care for. He knew, and he couldn’t remember. It kept him awake at night, it made him stumble and fail to stop the tip of his whittling knife before it bit into his fingertips. But he kept trying to live on, past his memories. He had dogs to train. Jules always said he’d be good with dogs.

It was one of the few nights he slept, from the moment his head hit the pillow, deep and fast, thankfully dreamless and dark. A busy day with training and the former IPRE crew helped. Lucretia and Davenport both left, separately, closer to sunset. Barry had headed back home about an hour back, citing a bounty he was going to go after with Kravitz the next day.

This had left Lup, Taako, and Merle here, and the latter two had excused themselves to talk privately about solving the problem once and for all. In the quiet desert night, it felt almost like a dream, talking about what they had promised him, over a year ago, in Wonderland.

“I can cast some Divinations, see if I can get any answers from Pan. If I can at least track his whereabouts…”

“Of course, my dude.” Taako leaned back against the house’s side carefully, trying not to knock his hat off. “I’ll see what contacts may have heard the name in major cities. We know enough people that us asking to keep an eye out for someone won’t be suspicious or…”

Merle nodded, rubbing his eyes. “You know, he’s gotta know what he’s done. The whole world knows about us, about our story, now. There’s no way he can’t know, or recognize us.”

“I know. Illusions are helpful like that.”

“Then it’s the actual...deed.”

Taako sighed. “I know. Just offing him with magic seems...cheap. It’s easier and less messy, sure, but…”

“Offing who?” Both men jumped, turning to the doorway. Lup grinned, leaning out of it. “Aw, c’mon, I’m not that scary. I’m not even a lich right now!” Quietly, she shut the door behind her, smile disappearing from her lips. “Seriously, though. Haven’t I had enough conversations with you two about just murdering people because you can?”

“Lup. It’s. It’s not. We aren’t just.”

“It’s for Magnus.” Merle stepped closer to her, eyes shining with something fierce and surprisingly hard for the laid-back cleric. That gave her pause.

“What...do you mean?” Her brother turned away, face tight. That meant it was something incredibly emotional, then, that much she was sure of. The cleric took a deep breath, glanced towards the upstairs windows to make sure they were still dark, then spoke again.

“Lucretia left Magnus here. When she separated us. He...he lived in Raven’s Roost. There was a madman in charge, Magnus helped lead the revolt. Fell in love during it. Got married.” Enough light streamed in from the kitchen that they could see Lup’s face. Love was something she cherished very much.

“Why haven’t I met her, then?”

“She died.” Taako spoke up, startling them both. “That rubble over there is all that’s left of the Craftsman Corridor. It wasn’t until we were in Wonderland that he told us Kalen’s name.” A shudder left the elf, even just saying it out loud. “We knew he had been married...I figured she had died when he told Kravitz to say he loved her…I didn’t put two and two together until...then.”

There was silence between them all, just for a moment. A small crackle of fire bloomed in Lup’s hand.

“Let’s kill a motherfucker.”


	2. The Next Step

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A revival. Of sorts.

From just what their intel had produced, it would be hard to hate Kalen just based on his looks. For simple, hard-working folks, he was a perfect paper cut out of what it meant to survive in rougher climates. Good looking enough without being handsome, just enough muscle to appear strong without being brawny. No scars, no callouses, nothing to mar what had been cautiously constructed.

That alone made Taako hate him. For all the elf’s bragging about being utterly attractive, he still had callouses on his palms, tiny scars and rough skin needed to handle hot metal even through oven mitts. He had hundreds of tiny wounds, half-healed and worked into his skin, carefully crafted to endure the worst a kitchen could give him. He worked hard. Magnus had hands as rough as sandpaper, and riddled with scars from whittling and combat. Even Merle’s one still flesh hand was far from smooth.

Noblewomen wove, spun, sewed. They had to still learn what their maids and servants did by doing them, before they were married. Noblemen still learned to fence or pursued a form of magic in their lessons. Healers’ hands had been worked hard with mortar and pestle, even a rogue bore scars over their knuckles from learning knife skills.

Even Angus, who’s still for deduction and magic lead him through school, still had his own scars and callouses, from improper wand use or learning to cook from Lup in his spare time, of just from sports.

The twins had learned early on to never trust anyone who kept their hands smooth. A man who bragged and bore himself up proudly with smooth palms and no scars never worked a day in his life. That was a man who had others do his dirty work for him, who was so self-certainly safe that he didn’t feel the need to hide and do anything.

That’s why Lup’s plan was utterly brilliant...and utterly terrifying.

“I’m telling you, this is perfect,” she muttered again, checking her make-up one last time in the reflection of her compact. She snapped it closed, grinning at her brother. He was illusioned up to still be as pretty as she was, but his nerves were starting to wear thin, and it showed. “Just work your cooking magic, and Sizzle It Up with Taako and Lup will be a success. And...well. Maggie’s got one less thing to keep him up at night.”

“I know, Lup. Just. You remember, the whole...and...Sazed, and…”

She froze, hand tightening around the apron in her hand as she took in her twin’s face. “Taako, Glamour Springs isn’t going to happen again, just because you’re doing a cooking show.”

“Someone’s still going to die.” The words came strained, almost like his throat was starting to close over in fear.

“I--shit. Taako, are you...are you going to be okay with this?”

He forced his eyes to close, taking a deep breath. He turned, smile still weak but his show persona fully on. “Darling, I’m Taako! You know…”

“My idiot brother, yeah.” With a gentle hip-check, Lup glanced at the closed wooden shutters, listening to the excited chatter outside. “He might not even be out there, you know.”

“Yeah. You’re...you’re right.” He reached out, with one more steady breath, to throw open the shutters and start the show.

She was wrong.

In the back, centered with three bodyguards, sat a man with a self-sure, smug grin.

They found Kalen, first try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was interesting to think about what the characters' hands would be like, especially in the setting. Modern era, we have so many tools to use that takes a lot of the wear off our hands. As much as Taako is a bit of an egotist, it is SO HARD to build up the right toughness for kitchens, personal experience.


	3. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lup has a realization. That realization may be that she done goofed.

Lup saw, first hand, how happy Taako was when he was in a performing role. He did it at his school, when working out deals with his fashion and cookware lines. But, even with all that, it was completely different for Sizzle It Up. He was...less flashy, of all things. He didn’t use over the top gestures or spells. His dishes were complex, sure, but he also wasn’t doing anything hard.

She wasn’t sure if he knew it, but this seemed like the most genuine face Taako had ever shared publicly. Still, despite all of that, she noticed the subtle shake of his hands, his breathing growing ragged from time to time, and the way he stumbled over his words.

That’s why Lup threw out her plan before the time came. It wasn’t worth it to see Taako panicked, it wasn’t worth the destruction of his confidence. Instead, she pulled Merle aside during a particularly flashy move. She told him to be actually subtle for once, and just follow Kalen and his bodyguards after the show.

Thank any and all gods for small miracles, because Merle actually did it. The moment the show wrapped up, the dwarf disappeared into the crowd, and Kalen left before any samples could be prepared. Her plan would have failed anyway, then.

As the crowd lined up for their samples, she shook her head at her brother, and watched his entire form relax. No one would tie the show, and him, to any deaths. Not again. It was like the weight had been lifted from him. Taako stood taller, had a more charming smile on, ooze more personality. His hands didn’t shake, and he signed more autographs than she could ever believe her doofus bro could ever manage.

That’s why, after the show, after the crowd had thinned and left, Lup should have realized something was up when Taako froze at an approaching figure. She should have realized that this plan may not have been the best. But when the young man stopped, body tense, as he stared down her brother, she really should have seen this coming.

"Taako, what the fuck," came the rushed breath. Even from here, she could hear the strain in the young man's voice. "You said you'd never rework the merchandise, no matter how hard I worked, and now--"

"It's...but she's my sister..." Whoever this man was, the pain in Taako's voice wasn't worth his continued existence. "Please, Sazed...."

Sazed. She knew that name. Lup cycled through all the stories her twin had told her about his life before he found the Umbra Staff. Ah, right. The person behind the actual incident. Her hand tightened, and if it wasn’t for Taako’s grip on her wrist, the man in front of them would be ash in the next breath.

“You’re the one who hurt my brother.” Her voice was cold. She knew that, knew it from the way he flinched. “You’re lucky I’m a good guy.”

He looked between the two of them. “Taako. We were supposed to be partners. But she just...shows up. And you…”

“Aren’t you supposed to be in jail?” Lup felt her brother’s wince. “You know, for fuckin’ murdering an entire town to ruin him?”

“Lup. Just. Don’t? Please?” He sounded so small. That scared her. They were twins. If someone threatened one, the other would be there to destroy whoever hurt them. That’s how it had always been. For Taako to back down, to want to run...that decade apart changed him so hard, and it scared her.

“Just for you. Hear that, asshat? You get to live. For now. But if I find out you ever come near my bro again, your dick is flambé.” She didn’t dare look back, but she knew that someone as legendary as herself would be weight enough to scare him off.

For now, her brother needed a nice giant mug of her specialty cocoa. The kind with vodka in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter wasn't going to happen. And then my sleeplessness what "but what if, Sazed." And then this happened, and changed the entire plan of this fic.
> 
> ...Whoops.


	4. In Camp

It was late when Merle returned to their small camp, but the information he brought back with him was priceless.

Kalen may have been the sort of appearance people flocked to, but since The Day of Story and Song, the crowds all knew Magnus’ name. They knew the entire IPRE team’s names, but that was beside the point. The point was, people who weren’t full of (in Taako’s opinion, completely justified) hero worship for IPRE weren’t exactly welcome in most circles.

After that day, Kalen had gone underground, to run what could be most easily summed up as a mob boss. He had people who preferred the darker parts of the world, the underhanded dealings, and power for power’s sake. It made sense. The man wanted power, so he took it where he could. If simple townsfolk could rise up against him, then he needed more power to crush rebellions before they could start.

Taako honestly hadn’t expected anything else.

It meant that they now knew where he was and what kind of resources he had at his disposal. It meant it was also time for the hardest talk. The three of them sat in silence around the fire, waiting for someone else to speak.

“So, how are we doing this?” It was Lup who broke the silence, looking at her friend and her brother. “Wands blazing, or…?”

Merle looked to Taako, and the elf sighed. “We need to make sure we pass on Magnus’ message. That’s the absolutely most important part. So...no magic. Not yet. I...I think it’d be better to get a good look at the situation, and then handle it from there.”

“That makes sense. No use in taking out people we don’t have to.” The cleric turned back to the fire, prodding it with a long branch.

“Morning. We’ll go during the morning, there should be less people there, less on guard. Tactically, it gives us the best advantage to kick in the door, ransack our way to him, and take him out.” Lup sighed, getting up. “We can talk this over better in the morning, make sure that we have our plan settled. We can enact it in a couple days to make sure we have the best use of our spell slots that we can.”

With that, they let the fire burn down to embers, setting up their bedrolls. Merle offered first watch, to which the twins jumped at. A long day, with high energy and nerves wore them both down harder than they needed to. While elves could meditate instead, they both enjoyed sleep any chance they could. Out here, with a plan formulating and so close to town, they felt safe.

Elves were resistant to sleep spells.

There were other ways to make sure someone stayed asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Strap your asses in, folks. It's about to get wild from here on out. In related news, I have lost all control over my life and my fic. Enjoy.


	5. In Which Shit Hits the Proverbial Fan

Taako awoke with a throbbing head, and eyes that didn’t want to focus. At first, he thought it was a headache from drinking (no, didn’t drink last night) or emotional exhaustion (he hadn’t had a depressive bout so it wasn’t sobbing himself to sleep).

When he finally could get his eyes to stay open, and focus on what he was seeing, a chill ran through him, multiplied by the packed dirt floor beneath him. Rough metal bars crossed over the top half of a thick door, the bottom solid wood. Through the metal grate he could see across the room, into another cell. There, Lup stood, arms bound over her head, a grimace of pain clear on her face. He knew whoever had put her in there did so knowing that the pain would keep her from focusing well enough to cast any spells.

If they knew that, then he could bet there were spells around that room specifically to hurt her if she died, and went full lich.

That scared him.

“Fuckin’...fuck.” If they were in cells, then it was likely Merle had been caught following Kalen, and followed back to their camp. Because the entire multiverse now knew their stories, that also meant they could figure out their individual weaknesses, and counteract it.

Also meant that the pain in his head was from getting clubbed and kept out cold. “Stupid, shitty...fuck.”

He tried to sit up, only to fail, and dimly register he was half-lying on his own arms, bound behind his back. A deep breath, and some squirming later, Taako was sitting upright, peering at the walls around him, desperate for any hints on escape. If he could find something with enough of an edge to wear at the ropes, then he could get his hands free and pick the lock to his cell with one of the pins still tucked into his hair behind his ear. Then he could do the same to Lup’s cell, get her down, find Merle and get him out, and…

Well, hope that they had been taken by Kalen, and not someone else.

First things first, though. He was getting loose.

Luck was with him, and some small part of him made sure to thank Istus for small miracles. A small, sharp rock was tucked under the bench that had to be what passed as his bed. Hooking that with one foot, and small quick motions, he moved it free, to where he could scoop it into his hands. No use making noise he didn’t need to make if he could help it. Too many situations back on their home plane he could remember, of him and Lup escaping from really awful people, of locked doors, bruises and burns from rope.

This was the first time they had been kept in separate cells, and that made him uncomfortable.

Hours passed, slowly. Taako felt himself sweat through what he was wearing, working patiently but maintaining that quiet. He was sure his hands were bleeding from the way they stung, the sharp scent of warm metal there but not overwhelming. He had gotten worse in kitchens. His hands would heal. The rock was rough, and would probably be gross enough to give him a small infection if he didn’t clean the wounds soon. But that was a problem for later-Taako.

It was nearly nightfall when he felt the rope slacken enough that he knew it held on by a few thin cords. This was the tricky part. If he pulled the bindings tight, despite the searing pain in his wrists, it would go faster as he sawed, but risked a chance of the rope snapping loud enough to attract attention.

He carefully lowered the rock to the ground, where he could reach it should he need to, but waited. If he waited until the middle of the night, and finished his action then, even if they had guards stationed out of sight during the day, there would be less at midnight, and they would be lax.

So Taako did what he rarely did.

He closed his eyes and tranced.


	6. Preparation

Lup’s shoulders burned. She knew that at least one shoulder had slipped loose of the socket. That side hurt worse, but it didn’t feel like it was fully dislocated. That was a slightly easier, if just as painful, fix.

Though, whoever put her in here wasn’t terribly smart. From her position, she could see the room clear of guards. Every single one of them she had seen had been human, and they made a grave mistake.

They thought this was enough to stop her.

Lup had centuries of control under her belt. A tiny flame, one small enough to burn without letting any heavy smoke smell leave her immediate area, or worse, making the whole damn thing go up in flames. Slow and steady, working to wear it down to the point that she could slip a wrist loose. It took her until sundown for the first rope let go with a soft snap. With her hand now free, and exhaustion wearing at her bones, Lup let herself relax a little. She needed to take a break before she started again. This was hard to do without food to refuel herself, and trancing in this position would be impossible.

So it was time to plan.

From here, if she was lucky, one of the bobbypins keeping her hair out of her face was still tangled in the mess. She could use that to pick the cell door open, if she could reach the lock. Then, she’d get Taako, and they could both find Merle’s cell. A quick plan on barging through the place could get them to Kalen.

That was good.

She let out a long breath, trying to get her body to relax. Tension was just going to wear her out, even if tension kept her other shoulder in pain. Why hadn’t she ever learned to cast Levitate, like Taako? Then she could at least sit in the air. That would be for later, though.

As the hours continued to slip by, and being bound by only one arm, she started to phase out the pain. Sure, her feet hurt, but that wasn’t anything new. She had walked until her bare feet had bled with every step, and fallen asleep after her own sobs from pain had left her exhausted. This pain was nothing.

At midnight, a noise started Lup out of the barest beginnings of a trance, more a daze than anything else. It was a creak of a door hinge, unperceivable unless you were hypersensitive to sound...like an elf. There, just in front of her door. A series of soft, almost silent sounds, like the tumblers within the lock being carefully pressed into place. The door swung outwards...and there was Taako, bent bobbypin in his hand, grin like...well, like he had just gotten the treasure of a lifetime.

“About time, bro-bro. Looks like we had the same plan.”

“Let’s go find that other dingus, and kick these assholes’ shit in.”

“Ew.”

The flame wasn’t so small this time.


	7. Creeping Along

Merle was harder to find, for the stupidest reason. Where both elves had been knocked unconscious with concussive force and bound to prevent magic, the dwarf had been hit with a sleep spell and had been out cold the entire time. It’s why they hadn’t heard a peep from the chatty man all day. His snoring kicked in as they started to search, leading them right to him.

Lup had the pleasure of smacking him awake, as Taako started to whine about his delicate hands and brute labor. The cleric started to wakefulness, then questioned, all too loudly, where they were and what was going on. After a series of hushed explanations and telling him more than once to whisper, it was time to move.

There was only a single staircase out of the room, and Lup took forward point. Taako didn’t have a focus or any components, and Merle’s strength was his faith, so it only made sense to put her forward. At least Lup didn’t have to worry about things like that, as a sorcerer. 

As both twins had suspected, the late hour meant there was few guards on alert. More worrisome, is that it seemed like there were no guards as they wound their way up into a small, well-furnished house. Was Kalen constantly surrounded by thugs, had he set them to guard the entirety of the perimeter instead of lying in wait inside? There was no way he was stupid enough to not have anyone on call.

The house was large. Uncomfortably so for a single person, if all his bodyguards didn’t live here. Taako could listen the people he truly cared about and could fit them all here, with a room to themselves. Trivially. This was more of Kalen flaunting what he had, that others struggled to even have the barest resemblance of. That made his gut twist a little. This man was hitting up against everything he hated about people with money. Instead of doing something decent with it all, he was wasting it by flaunting it.

It was people like him who made Lup feel small when they were younger, treating them like trash that happened to be in their way, treating a pair of homeless kids as something to mock rather than help. People like him that got robbed blind and stabbed in a dark alley. Never to kill, no. Just show that they weren’t untouchable.

Taako felt sick. This was the man who ruled Raven’s Roost before Magnus and Julia lead the town against him. This was the man who, when denied what he wanted for no reason other than to abuse it for his own joy, destroyed it.

This was the man who took some of the rare joy from his friend’s life, stole the most precious treasure any person could have. He stole Magnus’ family and home.

If there was any wavering thought left in Taako’s head, concerned about doubt, it was gone now. Someone like this had to pay.

He must have stopped, staring blindly, wavering in place as his mind overwhelmed him. Lup took his hand, squeezing it. The wizard took a breath, returned the squeeze with one of his own, and forced himself to focus. They couldn’t stumble now.

For Magnus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just finished writing out the entirety of the fic earlier this week. I fully expect screaming by the end. :D <3


	8. Where Things Get Real

“ROLL THAT INITIATIVE, SHITLIPS.” Lup kicked the door in. The man stood from the desk, where he had been working, only to freeze in place as she cast Hold Person on him. Taako stepped in after her, looking around quickly for some sort of bladed weapon. They had to do this the way Magnus would have. No magic.

“Are...you sure we still want to do this?”

“Fuck sake, Merle, yes.” Taako started pulling books off shelves, opening boxes. He just needed a dagger. A dagger to the throat, and they could just run and hope they could get out. If the guards were surrounding them, then...shit, how were they getting out? How could they escape after they offed this guy?

“He’s gotta. For Maggie.” Lup turned away, maintaining the spell as she looked at them. “I don’t know what kind of life you’ve had, but for me and Taako? People like this don’t change. They just...don’t. They find someone knew to beat down.”

Taako nodded, trying not to look at the dwarf. He didn’t like talking about the problems they had as kids. People tended to pity them. He didn’t need that. “Where the shit is a dagger? Seriously, you have this fancy a place and you’re not decked out with weapons?”

Kalen laughed. “You think I would keep them in my study?” His voice was raspier than they were expecting. The kind of voice that came with inhaling rough debris, or smoke. Perhaps his voice was ruined after he collapsed the pillars of the Craftsmen Corridor. If so, good. Then he was marked for life by his actions, however short that life would be.

“I mean, someone as shady as you...they’re on you.” Lup stepped closer, only to realize that her spell had failed as he leveled a hand crossbow at her. She was the closest, could cast spells without focus or components. She was the threat he saw first. 

Taako twisted hard in place, reaching for his sister. She had just gotten her body back not that long ago, yeah she would have her lich form, but he just got her back. He couldn’t lose her, not again--

There was a soft, familiar noise, like a pair of scissors tearing through cloth, and Kalen faltered.


	9. A Little Change of Scenery

Magnus frowned.

Taako had talked a good game about him and Lup going off to restart Sizzle It Up, now that they were together, but...it seemed really spontaneous, even for the elves. He had wanted to talk to Merle about this, to get the cleric’s opinion on it.

He was more than a little surprised to find that the twins had taken the dwarf with him.

It was a late, sleepless night, full of nightmares with a face he couldn’t remember, when Barry popped by, hoping to see if Lup was with Taako, cooking furiously in his kitchen.

“They...aren’t here?” The former scientist frowned, pushing his glasses back up his nose in absentminded habit. “Lup said she was only going to be gone a couple of days, and to come here to get dinner at the end of the week.”

Magnus shared the look as worry starting to build in his gut. “I don’t know, Barry. They never stopped by. They were going to restart Taako’s old cooking show.”

“I...thought Taako never wanted to try to make that show happen again?” The two men exchanged a panicked glance. It may have been midnight, it may be nothing suspicious at all. But no word, and no clear answer from their friends meant something was very wrong.

Never had Magnus been more glad for the bond engine, and how tightly their connection had been formed aboard that ship.


	10. Fulfilled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> None of them were expecting it to go quite this way.

Time seemed to stand still. Slowly, Kalen crumpled to his desk, blood slowly bubbling from his lips. In horrified fascination, Taako followed the man’s body slowly sliding from the furniture to the floor. Sure, they had killed people before, but that was in self defense.

And none of them in the room had made a move.

His eyes lifted as Lup started to laugh, and Merle sighed in relief. There, stepping out of the rift in the room, was Magnus and Barry. Barold even had his reaper scythe in hand, looking sheepish. Magnus was staring down at the body, reaching to pull his short sword from the barely breathing body. Taako knew that look. It was the same look he had when he explained that he had found himself depicted as a Red Robe, before they knew the color was associated with them, with IPRE, with each other. With their family.

It was the look he wore on late nights, when he was remembering Julia, but unable to remember her killer’s face.

He knew this man, but couldn’t recognize him. There was a disconnect in his mind, and it bothered him.There was nothing they could do to fix it.

A moment passed, and they could hear the labored breathing of the man slowly bleeding out behind the desk. Taako started, and said the most important words in the world, in that moment.

“That was for Julia.”

Magnus started, eyes wide. He looked up to Taako, then to Merle as he said it, and then to Lup as she said it. His face hardened, looking down at the man he couldn’t quite recognize. He torqued his arm up and back. The words that came out of him were colder than anything Taako had ever heard him say before, even more so than when they were in Wonderland, at the start of this all.

“For Julia, you son of a bitch.”

And he thrust his arm down, hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From everything I could find, Magnus just couldn't remember his name or face. Somehow, I feel like this fits really well.  
> Once chapter left, for our epilogue! I'll even be nice and not leave it until after the weekend. <3


	11. Finale

Raven’s Roost was quiet, but for the soft sound of hammering as Magnus put up fences around his property. He had already built the open kennels for the dogs to stay in, he just needed the space to train them now.

Lup and Taako cooked in the kitchen, both oddly silent. The two of them working in tandem was loud, chaotic, messy, ad joyous. But now, they were quiet, rarely speaking unless they had to. Barry fretted from the living room, until Merle distracted him with a nonsense card game, one they played often aboard The Starblaster. 

“Leave ‘em be. They’ll be okay soon.”

“And Magnus?” Barry fussed, toying with the edge of his cards.

“Well, what happened should give him closure. We’ll know soon enough.”

“When would that be?”

“When he starts talking nonstop about the next dog he sees.” Barry burst out laughing, feeling tension slide from his shoulders.

A new postcard from Cap’nport hung from a clothespin near the door, along a string of cotton that spanned the circumference of the living room. It was the latest update from his sea journeys around the world. He talked about how it felt like one of the planes they had visited during their century aboard the ship, and reminisced about their time there. He promised he’d stop by in time for Candlenights, with gifts from around the globe for them all.

Lucretia was stopping by this evening, to update them all on the rebuilding efforts and share her latest tea find with them. She had been finding newer, more unique blends, perfectly matched to her most recent portraits. No matter what she brought, Taako and Lup would have the absolute perfect dessert to pair it with already prepared and perfectly balanced for everyone’s individual tastes.

It wasn’t always perfect or happy, but it was their home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the kudos, comments, and just general love I've gotten for working on this fic. I tried thinking of literally any other ending, and none of them felt right until I hit Magnus being the one who did the actual blow. My girlfriend screamed right alongside all of you, and nothing feels so amazing as seeing the comments and kudos roll in daily.
> 
> Thank you so so very much.


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